


Read My Heart

by Galaxy_Phoenix



Category: Dragon Quest Series, Dragon Quest XI
Genre: DQXI Rarepair Jam, Erik does his best, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Serena is a literal saint, Teaching how to Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:27:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24292042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galaxy_Phoenix/pseuds/Galaxy_Phoenix
Summary: Erik has one secret and it's the fact that he doesn't recognize symbols on a page (aka he can't read). Serena, being the angel that she is, helps him out.
Relationships: Camus | Erik & Sena | Serena
Comments: 12
Kudos: 35





	Read My Heart

Serena wasn’t sure of what to expect upon coming to Gallopolis, but it was very different from home, that’s for sure. The desert kingdom was considered the “oasis of the sands” and it wasn’t hard to see why, with the gorgeously decorated, sandstone buildings and lively townspeople. The heat was a little bothersome, but not too annoying. 

For another member of the party, she noticed, not so much.

She looked over at Erik, who honestly was about to pass out. Perhaps he was far less used to the heat of the region, judging by his excessive sweating and overall “out of it” sort of look. 

“Erik, are you alright? You look as though you’re going to pass out.” Serena questioned worriedly. The last thing the group needed was for one of them to get heatstroke. 

“I’m a little out of it, don’t worry about it.”

“Please have some water, I insist.” Serena handed him her canteen, having those oddly adorable puppy eyes. Erik looked at her and then back at the canteen, which he hesitantly took.

“Are you sure you want me to take this?”

“Please.”

“Alright, if it makes you feel better…”

Erik took a swig of Serena’s canteen and was glad he took the chance as he felt himself getting a little better with hydration. He didn't want to drain all of Serena's canteen so she made sure that was still some left over for her. 

"Thank you…"

"Not at all! If you ever feel awful, please don't hesitate to tell someone."

Goddess, she's so nice. She's so different from her sister, who is more a feral bastard than even some of the cockiest people he’s known. 

“We’ll need to get to the inn to at least get a room and take a breather.” 

That was a good idea, so that was the first destination that the party of four headed to for the night. After getting the rooms taken care of, Veronica mentioned the local bazaar that still seemed to be open and bustling despite the sun going down. She was about to walk right out the door until Eleven went after her, affirming that he would keep an eye on her. This left Serena and Erik standing in the middle of the hall. Erik turned to face the door, noticing a sign on it. He looked it over a moment before Serena noticed he was having trouble.

"Erik, is everything alright? Is the sign difficult to read?"

"I can't read this at all, it's written all funny."

Serena joined Erik at his side, looking over to see what the sign on the back of the door read. The first thing she noticed was that the sign was written in fancy cursive, which is understandable that Erik couldn't read it. Even she had difficulty trying to make out some of the letterings. 

"Let's go see if one of the innkeepers can translate this for us."

"Good idea."

Good, so he didn't have to translate and let his secret be known. He followed Serena out the door and down the hall to where the front desk happened to be. She greeted the innkeeper present and asked if he could translate what the paper said. The innkeeper happily agreed, apologized for his wife’s overtly fancy writing, and read out what the paper said. The paper was apparently a flyer for the upcoming Sand National that was said to be taking place soon. 

That was all, apparently.

"Thank you, have a good night!" Serena politely thanked the innkeeper and Erik gave a nod before following Serena back to their rooms.

"If you're not busy, would you mind helping me with some alchemy? I found a new recipe for some stronger medicine that I would like to try out."

Erik didn't have any plans for the moment and was rather curious about the process, so he compiled and followed her back into the twins room.

"They may not be back for a little while but I'm a little tired to go out this evening."

"That's understandable." Erik said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Serena pulled out what appeared to be some fancy-looking pot, bronze in color and elaborately decorated. It must be pretty light since Serena must've had to carry it around. The curious little invention fascinated Erik, who had never seen anything like it. 

"What is that?"

"Oh, that's just the alchemy pot! It's rather small, but it's good for travel."

"Makes sense."

"While I get this set up, can you reach into my bag to find a little blue book? It's got the recipes in it.

Erik didn't find this to be a problem so he located Serena's bag near the top of the bed. He dug around, mindful of her things while keeping on target, and pulled out the little blue book that Serena was referring to, noting the small size. He decided to look through the book to see what was in there, surely she wouldn't mind.

_This turned out to be a grave mistake._

He was greeted with a language he wasn't familiar with at all. It was handwritten, most likely hers, and it was clean and concise. This didn't help matters though. 

“When you retrieve my book, can you please read aloud the ingredients and instructions? I want to lighten up the load and convert to some stronger items.”

“Uh, sure.” Erik hesitantly affirmed, getting more anxious by the minute. Each passing second was becoming too much for him. What would Serena say when she found out? What would happen afterward? Would she openly mock him and tell his secret to the rest of the party that he can’t read?

Erik quietly gulped as he got the alchemy book in his possession and sat nearby Serena, facing away from her on the bed. 

“The recipe is on page 5, the one at the very top.”

Erik noted what she was referring to, but nothing on the page made sense to him. It was like it was written in an indecipherable language and he had no skill to translate it. All of these strange symbols on the page, these letters looked so foreign to him. He was beginning to panic, almost on the verge of some kind of breakdown even. His breath got caught in his throat and he was grappled with fear.

What could he do, _what could he do???_

“-Erik! Goodness, what’s wrong!”

Serena’s voice took him out of his panic-induced trance and noticed that Serena was talking to him, now very concerned as to why Erik, clutching the book in his hands like his life depended on and looking so scared and lost, was about to cry. 

“I-I’m sorry, I….”

“You look like you’re about to cry, Erik, please tell me what’s wrong.”

This was it, no more getting around to it. It was time to face the music, so Erik took a shaky breath. 

“I….. I don’t know what this says…..”

“What do you mean?”

“These symbols on the page, I think they’re letters but I don’t know what these words say….”

His emotional barrier was on thin ice, about to crack and go under at any moment. He tried to keep everything together but it was already too late as the seams had already started falling away. 

“Do you mean… you were never taught how to read?”

The question seemed to break him. It was one of the little things he was insecure about, and he tried to keep it under wraps. Erik knew she didn't mean any harm or malicious intent but the question still hurt all the same.

It hurt him enough that tears started to form in his eyes. He quickly hid his face in his hands but that wasn’t enough to stifle the little hiccups in his voice or the tears that he continuously wiped away on the back of his hands. 

"Oh goodness, I didn't mean to upset you! That was rather rude of me-"

"D-Don't apologize, you meant no harm by it."

"I still made you upset by asking something personal."

Had it been anyone else, he would've been upset for days. But with Serena, he really couldn't be mad at her. He still didn't know how she did it.

"I have an idea. Why don't we read the recipe together?" Serena gently suggested to Erik's surprise. She was really going to sit down with him and teach him how to read? Did she really have that kind of patience?

"You want… to teach me how to read?"

"Yes, I do."

"You shouldn't waste your time on me…"

"It's not a bother at all!"

“Really?”

“Yup!”

She was rather insistent, wasn't she? Well it couldn't hurt to actually try...

"Okay." Erik concluded, accepting the offer.

Serena smiled sweetly back at him and Erik swore that a Celestrian had sat down next to him. She really is a saint.

"Let's start with this item here, Medicinal Herb. It goes like this: meh-dee-sin-al 'erb. Now let's sound it out. Ready?" 

Erik nodded and looked back at Serena for guidance. She would say the syllable and Erik would repeat it back to her. Then with her finger pointing to the word on the page, Erik took a moment practicing the syllables on the word, shaky at first but he started to understand some once he started to say the parts a little faster until he could recite the word fully back to her, much to Serena's delight. They then took a stab at the word "herb" but Erik became confused at the pronunciation.

"Wait, that doesn't sound like it's written. Why is it like that?"

"Sometimes when words are made, it can stem from an earlier form of a word that may have not had that letter in its original form. Sometimes accents add to the usage as well."

That made sense to Erik, who continued on and found the word a little easier than the other one. Seeing as he felt that he got the word right, Serena gently encouraged him to say the entire item. Erik took a breath and with some help from Serena, he practiced saying the item aloud several times before it could roll off of his tongue. 

“H-Hey, this isn’t so bad.”

“Well we have some more to read. Are you ready?” Serena asked, happily answered by Erik nodding with a growing grin. She then pointed to the next item on the list which was one Strong Medicine. Just like before, Erik read Serena’s lips and made sure to remember them when pronouncing them. They practiced the sound together until, like before, Erik could say the word almost perfectly. The next one was ‘medicine’, which sounded like ‘medicinal’ but the end was different.

“Meh-dee...sign?”

“Almost, it’s sin, s-i-n. Meh-dee-sin.”

O-Oh, that makes sense. So meh-dee… sin.”

“You’re almost there.”

“Meh-dee-sin.”

“Try saying it a few more times. It helps your memory the more you say it.”

“Okay… meh-dee-sin, meh-dee-sin…” Erik went on until it was to Serena’s satisfaction. 

“Just like that! The more you practice words, the better it becomes to read phrases and eventually sentences.”

This made sense to Erik, like he was a baby learning to crawl before he could walk. She was so sweet and patient to him, how could he ever repay her? Maybe a nice cake in the future maybe? A new spellbook? Something for her lyre? He noticed that Serena was about to speak so he focused on her as she taught.

“Now for the last one, the word is ‘superior’. That is the name of this recipe. Alright, so repeat after me, su-per-i-or.” Serena calmly instructed.

“S-Su-per-i-er.” Goddess, that sounded awful even to him.

“Su-per-i-or.”

“Su-per-i-or.”

“Very good! Just like before, just try saying it a few more times.”

So Erik did and he was finding himself feeling a little smarter with the words that he was learning. He almost wanted to cry, in a good way at least. He wasn’t never taught and his old caretakers weren’t too keen on teaching him either, so it felt like a whole new world opened up for him.

“Are you alright?” Serena inquired, concerned, “Your eyes look misty.”

“Yeah, I’m good. I just… had a moment was all.”

“Are you sure?”

“Y-Yeah, I think I’ll be okay.” Erik looked back with a genuine smile Serena hadn’t seen until now. He was learning, actually learning, and it was thanks to the girl next to him with the literal patience of a saint. 

“Do you know numbers?”

“On that, I do. When I was younger, I had to know numbers because I worked in the docks loading cargo and was required to count things. So numbers I know, but not words.”

This confused Serena at first but then it started to make sense. It still hurt her heart all the same that Erik was never given the opportunity to learn until now. At least there was some solace that he was learning, “later than never” as the old saying goes.

“Alright, so let’s try to read the list aloud for the recipe. Ready?”

“Yeah! Ready when you are."

So they went back to the top of the page where the recipe from earlier was. Erik braced himself to begin reading them aloud, but noticed that Serena was still sitting next to him. 

"Just try reading it aloud, and I'll get the necessary ingredients. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Alright, so what are the two ingredients?"

Erik took a breath. 

"Okay so the recipe calls for one… m-meh-dee-sin-al… 'erb."

"You got this! That was good pronunciation. For the other one…?"

The little encouragement did help as he looked at the next item on the page, the strong medicine. Erik took another breath.

"Str-Stron-g… meh-dee-...sin."

"And how many for that one?"

"Just one."

"Very well! That should be all on that page, I believe."

"That was it."

"Well, let's get this alchemy going!" Serena said excitedly. Erik looked on as Serena gathered the necessary herbs from her bag and tossed them into her little alchemy pot. After a few minutes of letting the pot stew, Serena checked inside the pot and pulled out the superior medicine, much to Erik's pleasant surprise. He always wondered how it worked since Serena would sometimes do it at camp. 

"There we are! A new herb and some learning!"

Erik almost couldn't keep himself from smiling. Despite the rough patches at the beginning, it actually turned out a lot more fun than he thought it would. 

"Do you want to learn to read some more or pause for the evening?"

Serena though Erik beamed brighter than the sun.


End file.
